Small Measure of Value
by JaxLass
Summary: S3-Post Shades of Gray. Daniel strangely vanishes from a besieged planet when O'Neill sends him back to the SGC. No one at Stargate Command ever saw him come through the gate.
1. Prologue 1952

**AN: **Post S3/_Shades of Gray _- adventure/mystery w/humor and angst. At the core of it is the Daniel/Jack dynamic. The stage is set by an event years before SG-1 made their first trip through the gate.

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**SMALL MEASURE OF VALUE**

**Prologue**

***1952*** An archeological dig site somewhere in Great Britain.

"Doctor, where are you?" The worried voice of his future brother-in-law came from below, off to his far right.

"Up here." Annoyed, Melbourne Jackson slapped the flashlight against his palm, not daring to move in the sudden darkness. "On a cliff shelf. Six or seven feet above you."

"What did you say about _green_?" Abruptly, a circle of yellow light at the foot of the cliff hopped across the stone wall to his left, fading steadily as he watched it move closer. By the time it found him, he barely cast a shadow against the dark stone behind him. "Whoa, my light's about gone, too. Wait there, Doctor Jackson, I think Claire brought the lantern for back-up."

"Waiting, Mr. Ballard." Melbourne sighed as Liam half-blindly backed out through the rough tunnel entry created with dynamite that afternoon. Wait, was it his imagination or was the cavern gradually taking on an odd greenish glow?

No, that was quite probably a simple reflection from the nearby shallow subterranean pool. Still, the oddly entrancing, luminescent shimmer didn't seem to be coming from any angle. If he didn't know better, he would have attributed that soft ethereal green-blue light to his earlier discovery. True, he had seen more bizarrely unnatural things than this in the dank, maze-like bowels of Egyptian pyramids during the war.

Maybe they weren't stones, after all, but huge triangular-shaped gems. But how on Earth would they get themselves literally fused into solid rock?

_Okay, review the facts, Melbourne._

Liam Ballard, younger brother to his beloved Claire, had hired him to find what he had called a _dynastic_ stone. A highly-valued gem that he had claimed stolen from his grandfather's church in Ireland. Claire professed to knowing nothing of such an artifact, and Melbourne, after three months in Liam's company in the field, could not shake the feeling that Claire's brother was somehow manipulating him, telling him half-truths to placate him for some reason.

"Mel? Honey, where are you?" Golden light appeared at the tunnel mouth far below and grew steadily brighter as Claire Ballard called out. "Mel? Liam said you needed the lantern. I can't see -- Ohh! MEL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WAY UP THERE?"

Jackson swallowed a caustic remark. "Claire! Dear woman, I need more light than that to get down! Where's Liam?!"

"He went back to the jeep saying that he needed more blast charges."

"More blast…?" Melbourne quickly reached out to snag the rope a few inches from his side. "Claire, tie the lantern to the rope, would you? I have an idea!"

Claire hesitated by the tunnel entry, watching the rope sway inches from the cavern floor. "Umm, all right." She went over and clumsily fastened the rope around the lantern's handle, stepping back as it jerkily made its journey up the uneven rock face, clinking, clattering metal grating into rough stone. As Melbourne untied the lantern and looped it inside his belt, he felt it's heat through his dust-laden trousers, but he ignored the discomfort and swung from the ledge.

"MELBOURNE! NO!" Claire screeched, hastily covering her eyes.

"I'm okay, " he wheezed, barely able to catch his breath. Climbing had to be his least favorite thing in his chosen profession. The rope felt tightly secure around his middle, however, and after a few unnerving slips, his boot found a jagged crack wide enough to step down in. He wasn't quite eye level with the lowest stone. Triangular in shape, it was elongated at the top, its edges rounded. The smooth aqua-green surface seemed luminescent. Tiny, crudely-carved symbols were visible on its inverted sides. Leaning back, he saw that each stone apparently contained three tiny symbols in an odd pattern that _could _have originated with the Stonehenge designs. Yes, each appeared different, but in exact alignment somehow. Pre-Britannic? Druid? Not his field of study, but he did have associates in the academic world who could identify the markings. Maybe.

Ignoring his fiancée's impatient urging, Melbourne snatched out his journal and hastily copied to paper whatever he could see in the light available.

When Liam finally returned, he found Jackson sitting wearily on the rock floor next to the lantern writing notes. "Did you find anything of interest about the stones?"

Melbourne offered a shrug, clapping the notebook shut. He stuffed it into a duffle bag lying beside his hip. He didn't ask the whereabouts of the blast charges "It's late, I'm hungry. Early tomorrow, we'll get the long ladder from the jeep so you can get a look at them, if you like. As for me, I have little doubt they're more than ritualistic symbols," he lied, avoiding the other's gaze, "of a long-dead Druid culture."

"Yes, that's sounds plausible. Until the morning, then."

Melbourne was up at dawn to find, as he had half-expected, Ballard's bedroll gone from the edge of their encampment, the fire cold. Even as he pulled on his clothes, nagging common sense chided him not to entertain the impossible. Unheeding, he snatched the lantern and raced back toward the open cavern. No discarded pickaxe or other rock-digging tool tripped him at the entrance, but a pervasive metal smell hit him as his light penetrated the interior to show the long ladder propped against the craggy stone wall inches from where three green stones should have been _fused_ into the solid rock.

He lifted the lantern higher and stared in open-mouthed astonishment up at the three empty, _dripping_ hollows. No, that just could not be _possible_. Resisting a brief urge to clean his glasses, he scrambled up the ladder for a better look. Yes, all three of the stones were -- gone, the holes left in their wake like polished glass and dripping with water as if somehow each had been _melted _inside. Bizarre.

They had been _solid_ stone, for Heaven's sake.

"Melbourne?" Claire shuffled sleepy-eyed out of the entrance, practically dragging the other lantern behind her. "Where's Liam?"

Jackson rushed back down the ladder to check the packed dirt. Fresh boot prints. Discarded flashlight batteries. Curious, he picked one up. "Yeeow! The cursed thing is HOT!" In reflex, he tossed it away to flexed sore fingers. The small battery casing landed, dripping steamy, acid brown liquid. _Very_ strange. "Your brother's gone," he solemnly informed her, seeing her eyes dip to the battery graveyard.

"I, I don't understand. Gone _where_?"

Melbourne sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't think he needs _our_ help anymore."

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**Part 1 - ARC OF LIGHT**

**Chapter 1 - Evacuate Now or Get Trampled.**

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"I still don't get how you can _overlook_ a whole planet, Carter."

"The system is far from perfected, sir. Even enhanced calibrations can't always be properly aligned to specify certain spatial coordinates each time."

"Daniel?"

"Um, our computer's not perfect; some planets just… well, slip through the cracks."

"Thank you."

"Jack, you can hardly blame Sam for _that_."

"No? Is she not the one with her fingers in the pie?"

"I fail to see how her preference of eating confections applies to our situation, O'Neill."

"Yes, but mind you, those same fingers are also responsible for recovering a questionably lost PCX-388."

TBC.....


	2. Arc of Light1 Evacuate or Get Trampled

**AN: **Thank you to those reading and reviewing! Mostly questions about Daniel's uncle, Liam. Yes, his connection to the unique stones will be seen as well as the idea that there may be _more_ of them and that they serve a purpose.

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**Part 1 - ARC OF LIGHT**

**Chapter 1 - Evacuate Now or Get Trampled.**

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"It's okay, Daniel. We'll just have to re-input current configurations to a greater degree of detection. There is no way of knowing how many planets we could have missed. Apparently the pre-calculated stellar drift is more prominent than we first thought."

"What happened to the program that you were going to write to digitally compensate for this eventuality, Sam?"

"That's the one, well, still on the drawing board. Sorry."

"Then there… you mean, we could be dropping _others_?"

Before Carter could open her mouth, O'Neill declared, "Of course we could, Daniel. Drop one planet by the wayside, you drop another. That's, er, Murphy's Law… I think."

"Go through the wormhole on a sunny day, it's raining on the planet. That's Murphy's Law, Jack. The law of irony in often physically comical manifestation."

"Physically comical, huh?"

The four of them stood together on the incline of the gate's ramp, pausing a few feet from the large, encircled wall of shimmering blue.

"Okay, kids. Last minute check," O'Neill ordered, hefting his weapon to make sure the loaded cartridge was locked in place. "Carter, check for power readings; Daniel, if you use the gun, try not to drop it in the dirt this time. It tends to make the ordinance people rather unhappy."

"Oh, well, ordinance people aren't bullied about by colonels into towing around several hundred pounds of weighted metal strapped to their hips," Daniel mumbled, glancing woefully at his holstered sidearm.

"What?"

Daniel's head popped up at an angle, guileless brows leaping into the uneven sandy-gold fringe. "What?"

Jack stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head. How was it possible for a grown man to look that innocent? No one past the age of _six_ was suppose to manage that. Yet, Daniel, from the day he'd met him, had his deceptive act down to a science.

"This is odd. I'm not reading anything _now_," Carter remarked, frowning as she adjusted the small handheld device. "I don't understand this, sir. Less than twenty minutes ago it was spiking right off the graph. Now _nothing_."

O'Neill glanced over his shoulder at the woman in mild annoyance. "Maybe you need a bigger antenna or whatever it is that picks up those lower signals."

"Perhaps you are referring to an emissions booster, O'Neill." Teal'c peered curiously over Carter's head at the dormant device in her hand.

A few steps in front, Daniel tried to snatch his boonie hat from the low hip pocket of his BDUs where he usually stuffed it. As it frequently did, the rope snagged on the pistol to entangle itself with the holster. With an exasperated groan, he twisted the mangled hat free and started to turn toward the others. At that instant, something flashed an eerie pale green at the corner of his vision. Daniel's head snapped up quickly, startled to see that the towering circular spectrum of the event horizon had an outlying green tinge to it arcing toward the top.

"Look at that!" he gaped, shading his eyes with his sleeve, unaware of dropping his hat on the ramp. "It's incredible!! Are you seeing…!? Heeey, Jack? Did you, did you see what I just--?" He swung around anxiously to find all three teammates staring at him skeptically. He pursed his lips and glanced back over his shoulder. Sure enough, the entire event horizon shone a mocking luminous blue.

Jack scowled at him. "Clean your glasses, Daniel. There's nothing there. And there's nothing _here_." He tossed a negligent thumb in the direction of Carter's handheld device.

Sam spared the colonel a hard look, resenting the dismissal. However, she tried to offer a smile to her younger teammate. "Sometimes the lights reflect… things that aren't there, per se."

"_What?" _Daniel bent to grab his hat, wide blue eyes still fixed on Sam's face as he straightened again. "I _do_ know the difference," he huffed. She shrugged and went through the event horizon behind O'Neill.

"That was _not_ a reflection," he insisted. When Teal'c didn't comment, Daniel sulkily jammed on his hat to follow the Jaffa into the wormhole. He hesitated, unable to stop himself from looking up. Nothing. Puzzled, he went through, almost bumping into Carter on the other side as she stood stiffly on the steps.

"Sam?"

The colonel stood in the middle of a huge red-brown field. A dust-dry, flat, barren field. No people. No houses. No animals. No trees or grass. "Well, I think it's pretty safe to say we could have left this one _lost_," he yelled across the open space. Teal'c nodded in solemn agreement standing next to a perplexed Carter.

Sam wasn't ready to leave yet. With a last uncertain look around, she came down off the steps and went to one knee to feel the ground. "I have to get samples of this orange dirt," she declared. "I'm no agriculturist but it doesn't look these fields have been plowed in years. How can that be?"

"Because there's _nobody_ here to plow them?" O'Neill snapped, walking briskly across the field to rejoin his team. "I'm guessing, Carter, that your little power spikes were just more computer glitches and the MALP got its wires crossed with another planet with a _civilization_."

Carter remained baffled. "I still need to get dirt samples, sir."

"Fine. Get Daniel to help you. This is as close as he's gonna get to his rocks this trip."

"Yes, sir." Carter unloaded her backpack and rummaged inside for the small sample vials she habitually took into the field. The ground was fairly hard, but she managed to gouge a few dents in it with her boot heel. She had both hands filled with the grainy orange substance when she heard a muted beeping.

"MajorCarter, your… upper front seems to be making an oddly disharmonic noise."

Carter blinked. The handheld device in her breast pocket beeped again before she could drop the dirt. "Uh, thanks."

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TBC


	3. 2 Tag It Or Pack It

**AN: **Stay or go. Will Jack trust Carter's device or rely on his own eyes for answers?

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**Part 2 - ARC OF LIGHT**

**Chapter 2 - Tag It Or Pack It**

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O'Neill wandered back into the open, still undecided if he should take his team beyond the wide expanse of the field. Or should he pack it up and just write off this world as insignificant? Instinct argued that he was missing something - besides the wall. He turned reluctantly to acknowledge what must be a high stone enclosure at the far edge of the field. From this distance it looked remarkably like a thick, albeit bumpy red-brown chalk line had been crudely drawn across the left side of the horizon.

According to Daniel, a long wall like that might be a timeless testament to life and easily outlast generations of their creators. Or it could stand strong like a fortress and protect its frightened inhabitants from heavy outside assault. You never _really_ knew.

Jack turned back toward the gate, still half in thought. Yep, Carter knelt near the steps filling her vials, Teal'c stood a few feet behind her, dark eyes traveling over the horizon behind O'Neill with no show of interest. And Daniel was-- Oh, that's just great, the archeologist was _nowhere_ in sight.

"Teal'c," Jack shouted, keeping most of his irritation in check. "Where's Daniel?"

The big Jaffa pointed beyond the gate and Jack realized that his view had been obstructed by one side of the massive ring. A moment later, Daniel's head bounced into sight, then disappeared again.

O'Neill shuddered. If there were indigenous life on the planet, sooner or later, it would find one overly-curious archeologist in stray-from-the-team mode. That Teal'c had assigned himself as sentinel only made him feel moderately better.

Okay. The colonel determined that he had had enough of PCX-388. Let another team do a follow-up mission. SG-4 had a new team leader since Major Sanderson had gotten himself nicely implicated by Makepeace in the NID sting. O'Neill couldn't recall the new guy's name, but it reminded him of a sporty car. Yes, this would be good field experience. He could clear the assignment through General Hammond with no problem and rack up another successful mission completed by SG-1.

Despite that, Jack deftly took stock. His team had their samples. Carter was satisfied. Daniel was intact. Teal'c looked bored. Nothing to survey and no local cultures to shun or observe. What was he missing?

"Okay, that's it, kids," O'Neill announced, approaching the short steps where his team was now gathering. "Tag it or pack it, I don't care. We are outta here."

"Sir, there's a stone wall about a quarter mile to the west," Carter injected at knee level, seeming in no hurry to follow his orders.

"Let the marines climb it. Come on, they _enjoy_ all this dirt, grime and dust. As for me, I'm thinking the muscles could use a nice relaxing soak in a hot tub."

Obstinate Carter, however, opened her mouth and Jack's vision of a hot soak circled the drain in her logic. "Sir, I think the power readings are coming from _there_."

Of course they are, Jack groaned inwardly. "All this glitching goings on. I thought we already talked about that?"

'Yes, sir. We did, but I believe this might be worth investigating… while we're still on the planet."

"O'Neill sighed, grudgingly bowing to her reason. "You've got the glitch-o-graph. You don't think it's so random now?"

The major shrugged, climbing to her feet and brushing dirt from her knees. "Not really, sir." She took the compact device out of her pocket to consult it briefly. "Granted, they may still be random in occurrence, but it's unlikely that they were technically glitches. I am getting fairly strong energy readings of some kind, even now. Nothing that I can actually… identity though."

"That's because there's nothing _here_," O'Neill groused. He swept his arm out and wildly around. "Squat! Wasted space! No one the premises! Boarded up for the winter! Are you getting _any _of that?"

Carter stood her technological ground. "Sir, according to _these_ readings, there is _definitely _a power source of unspecific variation around here _somewhere_," she insisted. She glanced toward Daniel for support, but he looked preoccupied, frowning as he scanned the sky.

The latest challenge, surprisingly, didn't come from Colonel O'Neill. "Perhaps your electronic device is malfunctioning as before, MajorCarter."

"No, Teal'c," she argued, "The MALP showed the exterior of a village setting about a quarter mile from our gate. Maybe that's what's behind the stone wall."

O'Neill pursed his lips, glancing undecidedly from his second in command to the dark-skinned Jaffa, then sighed. "Oh, okay. We go in. But if this turns out to be a case of random glitches on your graph, Carter, remind me to go on record as a vote in favor of Air Force honchos springing for a serious computer systems overhaul. We wouldn't want to lose _any_ more planets, would we?"

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TBC


	4. 3 Divide and Confound

_AN: __**I'm hopping back and forth between SG1 & PotC & as inspiration takes me.**_

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_**CountryPixie**_**: We **_**know **_**Daniel's not crazy, don't we? **

_**SoloFalcon**_**: Thank you! Yes, more is coming.**

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**Part 1 - ARC OF LIGHT**

**Chapter 3 - Divide and Confound**

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"I'll make a note of that for you, sir."

O'Neill nodded, frowning as he turned to the Jaffa. "Teal'c, you take point and I will - oh, for crying out loud, DANIEL! What the hell _are_ you _doing_?"

"Jack?" The young man blinked, gracefully swiveling his head while still tilted back. He kept one flat palm pressed to his hat.

"What's up there that's so damn interesting?"

"Nothing," Daniel returned absently, lowering his head to adjust his lopsided hat.

O'Neill rolled his eyes. "And still I ask," he berated himself. "Never gonna get that."

"Jack, um, are we sure this is PCX-388? I thought this was suppose to be a thriving community."

Jack took a deep breath. "Daniel, we've already passed the 'where-is-everybody' part and moved on to the 'let's-go-see-what's-behind-the-rock-wall' plan of action while you were busy _not _helping Carter with her sample gathering. Sooo, if we are all the same page now, let's move out!"

************

Daniel looked briefly chagrined as he fell in behind Carter. He couldn't resist, however, another glimpse skyward. Sam waited at the foot of the steps patiently. "Ready?"

Ahead of them, O'Neill and Teal'c strode briskly across the brown field, unaware of how far ahead they'd already gotten from their two teammates.

"O'Neill," Teal'c started, easing his longer strides for Jack to catch up to him. "I believe this place is elevating my hackles."

Jack stared at him for a confused moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I know. I didn't want to spook the kids, but there's something sorta odd about this -- oh, I don't know -- emptiness? Feels kinda… off, if you ask me. Listen to those hackles and keep your eyes pee- uh, open, all the same."

"That is my intent, O'Neill," Teal'c assured him.

Jack slowed his pace, falling behind the Jaffa as he looked around their surroundings more suspiciously than before. "If Carter's right and there is _some_ kind of power source operating around here, I'd hate to think what it might be used for if this place _really_ is as deserted as it looks."

************

"Well, I don't _see_ an any entrance," Sam remarked, cupping her right hand above her brows as she walked beside the archeologist. "but Teal'c or the colonel will -- Daniel? You're _not _pouting about that… light beam, are you?"

"Er, no." Her companion dropped his gaze from a cloudless late afternoon sky to meet hers, offering an apologetic grin. "No, but I just thought… I mean, shouldn't there be, well, residual or static charge after-affects still visible in any power surge strong enough to penetrate a wormhole?"

"Not necessarily." Carter ruefully tapped the handheld device in emphasis. "Your presuming that it would naturally come from the atmosphere. Daniel, look around you. Is there _anything _natural about this planet that you've seen so far?"

Daniel shrugged uncomfortably. Sorry, Sam, for not helping in the sample collecting."

"Colonel's way of keeping you out of trouble, " Sam replied, deftly catching his elbow as he nearly tripped over an embedded rock. "C'mon, we better start moving faster," she advised. "They're already close to the wall."

Daniel recovered his balance, shrugging free. "Oh, hello." He frowned at the graph in Carter's palm. "Hey, Sam, has it been doing that stock market thing a lot?"

"Stock market?" Carter repeated. She pulled the device closer, ignoring Daniel's curious eyes briefly following it. "That's not, I've never seen it register that high before! Wait! No, it's dropping off again as if, as if a door just closed."

"Well, how about an entryway?"

Sam looked up quickly. "What?" Daniel nodded, grimacing as he turned to point to the wall where neither the colonel nor Teal'c stood waiting or waving to them.

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TBC


	5. 4 The Stone In The Altar

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**Part 1 - ARC OF LIGHT**

**Chapter 4 - The Stone In The Altar**

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Carter's frowned deepened. "Daniel, try using your radio," she suggested tersely while she scanned the wide brown field.

"I just did. I think that stone may be blocking transmissions."

"So we don't know if---"

"Jack and Teal'c are in trouble or not." Daniel shook his head, fingers anxiously resting on the grip of his holstered sidearm. "Sam, can you use that device as sort of like a compass to determine where the power might be coming from?"

"I don't know, I hadn't really considered it for that purpose before."

"Give it a try," Daniel advised softly, wide eyes scanning the large structure several yards ahead of them. This close, the wall now appeared more impressive. Its sides towered about fifteen feet, constructed with boulder-sized rust-brown rocks pocked with odd craters. To the right, the turret-like edifice built into the wall soared another ten or twelve feet higher. Deep in the recesses of the wall, they saw a tall, arced gate, not as high as the surrounding walls. The iron-looking planked structure, rose to the left of the imposing tower. Upon closer inspection, Daniel noticed that the gate's narrow opening. The cross bar hanging vertically _almost_ flush with the supporting wall.

"Our invitation?"

Sam, standing behind his shoulder, grimly shook her head. "I don't like this, Daniel."

"It's okay." Daniel bent forward, palm resting on a knee to show her shallow tracks in the powdery orange dirt. "Taking a leap here… This is Jack and Teal'c. Government Issue SGC boots. Larger than mine," he added. "Bigger feet."

Sam smiled. "Bigger men."

"Longer legs," Daniel countered. "But in no hurry. At least--"

"As far as you can tell."

"Right. As far as I can tell." Jackson smoothly pulled his gun free of its holster, holding it to his side, tensing. "Which could mean anything."

A few steps behind him, Carter quickly pocketed the device to cover her teammate with her P90 raised and ready. "Try the radio again, Daniel."

Edging up to the gate, Daniel nudged the lever aside and cautiously pressed the cross latch nearly even with his shoulders. The gate yielded. Daniel jumped back, instantly keying his vest radio. Click. "Jack? Jack, if you can read me, this is Daniel. Sam and I… we're here at the gate. Do you… is it safe for us to proceed or…?"

Click. Click. Static. "…invitation? Dan… time…… your butt… now!"

Daniel winced, moving back at Sam by the wall. "Radio's working again," he said flatly.

"Good." Sam turned around to face him. "What did the colonel say?"

Daniel bit the inside of his lip. "Well, uh, he either wants both our butts out of this field or mine in a sling. I couldn't really tell. At least they sound okay."

Carter suppressed a grin. "But we _still_ don't know where they are and our radios aren't much help here." She gestured for him to precede her through the gate. "Stay low to the wall, Daniel, and don't get _too _far ahead of me."

He nodded and started forward, belatedly bringing his pistol up to his chest. He had barely made it a few yards inside when they were startled by a low, muted rumble somewhere beneath them. The ground shifted violently under their feet, orange dirt trembling, hopping across their boots. Sam stumbled backward out of the gate, fighting for balance, her weapon wrenched from her shoulder and sent flying into the field.

"Daniel!!" Close behind she heard a loud wrenching noise. The gate had been thrown wide open, shaken loose from half of its mooring. Sam fell against the quivering stone wall in horrified disbelief. "Daniel, GET OUT OF THERE!"

To his horror, Daniel saw the vibrating gate above him ripping free of its track. Every instinct screeched run. He tried desperately to obey, but he'd barely been able to stagger back onto his feet when he felt the ground shudder again. The heavy plank gate skidded across the loose dirt toward him, its dragging pole gouging a deep trench behind it.

*********

Elsewhere - A small village on the Irish coastline.

"Ah, Father Haggardy, have you a moment?"

The elderly priest straightened threadbare robes and shuffled down the short aisle. "If this is another talk about your boozing, lad, I'm done hearing about it when it does no good to--"

"Father, this about the stone."

Haggardy stiffened and hastily crossed himself as he glanced at the altar behind them. "We don't need speak of it as it's gone, Martin," he whispered, almost admonishingly. "No longer in our safekeeping. It cannot concern us now."

Martin lowered his head, eyes shifting nervously toward the high-arched door entrance. "I know, but there was _someone_, father, a yank from the colonies. He was asking of it, wanting to know if it had really been here."

"What did you tell this man?" Haggardy prompted, leaning into the pew.

Martin shrugged. "What I was told to. That I knew nothing of it."

"And in truth, son, you do not. None of us can say how they brought you here or even why you can't go back. Remember, Mr. Ballard is now one of us."

"And this yank? Do you think anyone here will tell him?"

Haggardy shook his head. "Son, what proof is there? Who'd believe in a fantastical stone that _melts_ into other stones when it's wet?"

"Father, he said he also knows about the museum robbery."

Haggardy rubbed his chin with gnarled fingers. "No matter. Our secret is still safe, son, with the stone gone."

*********

TBC


	6. 5 Don't Let The Door Hit You

AN**: Thank you for your great reviews! For more detailed info on this visit the Stargate part (at the bottom) of my profile. **

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**Part 1 - ARC OF LIGHT**

**Chapter 5 - Don't Let The Door Hit You**

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"Daniel!" Ignoring the dust and stone debris coating her clothes, Sam grabbed her weapon, scrambled to her feet and ran anxiously toward the opening. The heavy gate had ground to a teetering, lopsided halt less than two feet from the entrance, the broken clasp still swinging loose from its latch.

Only moments ago, Daniel had been standing right there.

Carter swung around the gate, not taking the time to see what had stopped it. "Daniel!"

Once inside, Carter was confronted by a once-pastoral vine strewn courtyard partially paved with smooth red-brown rocks and flanked by crudely thatched dwellings. At it's center, stood an odd gray-flecked goat-like statue. Forcing herself to ignore it, Sam hurried to the nearest hut as she spotted the crumpled figure in drab green, half-covered with orange dirt.

"Daniel!!"

"Sam?" Blood dripped from his nose, his glasses climbing his forehead crookedly, but she couldn't see any apparent damage.

Carter quickly keyed her radio. "Colonel, Daniel's down! Can you read me?"

Click. Click. Static. Sam swore in frustration and rushed over to her fallen teammate. "Daniel…?"

He spit out orange dirt, gingerly rubbing his hip. "Ohhhh, I think the gate hit me in the …OW! Oh, yeah, it _did_."

"Left hip?" Nodding, Sam righted his glasses, then bent low over his left side. No torn clothing, but there was a smear of red below the hipbone visible beneath the dirt layer. Impatiently, the archeologist tried to shift to see. "No, stay still, Daniel."

He swallowed. "Blood?"

Sam brushed the red patch gently, feeling his leg tense. She brought her finger to her nose. "No, it's only _rust_."

Daniel released a long breath, offering her a shaky smile of gratitude. "Near miss," He whispered, gripping her arm as she helped him to stand. "What the… what was that, anyway, Sam?"

"I don't know." She watched in concern as he pressed the back of his hand to his nose. What little blood there was had dried, caking part of his upper lip. "The MALP didn't indicate any unstable land masses that might account---" She broke off, shaking her head sadly. "Daniel, you could have been crushed by that gate!"

He nodded in solemn agreement, rubbing his sore hip. "Oww! Gives new meaning to not letting the… door… hit you… on the way out," he joked, grimacing.

Knowing he was in pain, Sam smiled back sympathetically. "Daniel, are you sure you're all right?"

"Uh, yeah. Better than my gun, at least."

"What?" Sam followed his rueful gaze. The pistol was wedged firmly under the gate latch pole effectively stopping it.

"I don't think I'll complain about wearing one anymore," he said emphatically, leaning into her side.

Sam gasped, turning her attention back to Daniel. "Can you walk?"

Daniel took a couple of bracing breaths before nodding weakly. "I think so. Where we going?"

Carter gazed around the empty village, then pointed to the hut's entrance. "In there. At least until I decide what to do."

"Breaking and entry, Sam…" Daniel started to protest, hissing as he took a tentative step forward and put too much weight on his left leg. "Oww!"

"That's requires a door." Carter helped him inside the hut, easing him down against the nearest wall. The square entry had been cut wide enough to allow only a few shadows inside courtesy of a primitive straw-bundled awning. "Daniel, I --."

His index finger shot up in front of her face, silencing her. "No, no, no, no. Sam, I'm not waiting here for you to find Jack and Teal'c. Forget it."

"Daniel, please…"

"No. Give me a minute and I'll be all right."

"No, you _won't_," Carter sighed.

"I will," he argued stubbornly. "I _have_ to be. Sam, you can understand that, can't you?" Wide blue eyes behind the frames pleaded with her and Carter knew she'd lost.

"All right," she capitulated. "But first I have to see…uh, I need to know if… Oh, will you just let me look?" the flustered major ended lamely, hoping she hadn't blushed.

"Look?" Daniel regarded her with a half-amused, half-embarrassed grin. "Uh, okay, but no cold hands. At least you have a better bedside manner than Janet."

Sam didn't want to pursue that last remark. "I'm sorry about this, Daniel."

He shrugged, bending to loosen his belt. "Soooo as far as we know, we're alone," he consoled himself, then frowned. "Sam, did that feel like a natural quake to you?"

"I'm not sure," she hedged, kneeling closer to his thigh. "It happened too fast."

"Yes, it did." Daniel had his fatigue pants open, awkwardly trying to shift his weight so that he could ease them down off his left side. 'I've experienced a few in the Orient… and they don't usually quiet down without a few more tremors… aftershocks… You think it might have been an - undergr-oowww - underground explosion?"

"And what we felt was the concussion," Sam mused. Inwardly she thought. _Green boxers, Daniel? When did you start wearing military underwear?_

Daniel bit his lip, hesitated for a beat, then hooked a finger at the waistband of his boxers and yanked them away from his hip. "We know that it wouldn't be the first --oww -- civilization we've run across that --oww -- existed in underground caverns."

"Like the Tok'ra?"

*********

TBC


	7. 6 Nearby Far Away Places Ground Moved

AN: **With Daniel injured, it's left up to Sam to figure out how to find their teammates. References to **_**Demons**_**.**

****************

**Part 2 - NEARBY TO FARAWAY PLACES**

**Chapter 1 - Who Made The Ground Move?**

************

He caught his breath an instant after Carter did at the ugly sight. From a few inches above the knee to just below his waist, his thigh had become a raw-looking bluish-purple mass. There was some swelling around the scraped skin, but no bleeding.

"Yes. But without those -- ahh --crystals, probably nothing that elaborate or complex could exist here, structurally speaking." The young man leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. He shivered as she probed gently at the protruding bone.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but I have to know if it's a fracture."

Eyes remaining closed, Daniel swallowed visibly and nodded. "With exception to the Tok'ra, extreme sensitivity to brilliant sunlight or -ooww- contaminated atmosphere are usually indicative to those --ahhh-- situations, which… uh, if you notice, don't seem to apply here at all."

"Okay, I'm done," Sam informed him, pulling away.

He offered her an owlish look. "Good."

"Aside from deep bruising and scraping around the pelvic area, I think we can safely say you're still intact despite being -- side-swiped by a runaway gate."

Daniel grimaced. "You _had_ to say that, didn't you?"

"I have aspirin in my pack if you'd like a few," Carter replied, "to get through the next couple of hours."

"Yeah, please." Daniel wearily fumbled to fasten his pants. "I guess I'll just sit here and rest for awhile…"

Sam dropped two white tablets into his open palm and watched him swallow. "Some form of advanced mining isn't out of the question," she offered, holding out the canteen before he could choke. "Historical society or culture is not my field, but the MALP gave us more of a thirteenth-fifteenth century European peasant atmosphere, nothing technical, as you can see from the courtyard."

Daniel shuddered. "As I recall, _last_ time I saw a courtyard _anything_ like that, a Goa'uld-possessed Unas lorded over the village. And if not a natural event," he remarked, taking another hasty gulp of water, "what or who made the ground move?"

Sam shrugged, glancing around the small, empty hut as if it would provide the answer. "It didn't _have_ to be an explosion," she offered, absently picking up pieces of loose straw from the packed dirt floor. "You remember how the stargate's activation literally shook the entire mountainside before we had dampers installed?"

"Yeah, you're right," Daniel conceded, looking up to where to the roof showed thin gaps in the straw covering. "So… what, then? That was the last guy leaving on a primitive subway after he turned out the figurative lights?"

"Well, that's one possibility," Sam concurred, fastening the flap on her backpack. "Not one _I_ would entertain." She briefly consulted her handheld device to find it once again dormant. "But then, I'm not _entirely_ convinced the place is deserted."

Daniel smirked, straightening his good leg. "No, cause they're waiting at the subway platform downstairs." He laughed faintly. "Can't you picture Jack trying to get Teal'c to flag one down?"

"Uh, you're not cold, are you?" Sam wondered, rising to her feet, tossing her backpack loosely over one shoulder. "You know, that's one of the first signs that you're going into shock."

Daniel glared at her, annoyed by the condescending tone. "No, I am not cold!" he said testily, short of throwing his forearms across his chest. Instead, he let both limbs flop to his sides in defeat. "Look, I'll be fine in here. You did what you could, thanks, now go find Jack and Teal'c."

"All right, then I'll leave the backpack here," Sam decided after a few more moment's of uncertainty. "I won't go far, and-- Daniel, did you hear me?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Do that," he agreed absently, eyes fixed on the courtyard where the corner of the statue's platform could be seen to his left. "I'll sit here and figure what it is about that thing out there that's bothering me - aside, of course, from an aesthetically unpleasant rendering of a farm animal."

Sam shook her head, kicking more straw aside as she stopped at the door. "Goats and rams have been around since Biblical times," she reminded him. "You can't really label _them_ farm animals. I doubt that these people did."

"That _was_ presumptive, I guess…" Daniel admitted, sighing. "These animals _were _sacrificed as religious burnt offerings long before the Dark Ages worshipped them in ritualistic pagan black masses. I'd need a closer look to determine--"

"No, that can _wait_," Sam declared sharply, cutting him off. And when the archeologist blinked, but didn't give her a customary argument, her thoughts returned to locating the rest of their team.

The planet's distant sun marked no visible passage of daylight. It had seemed close to approaching dusk when they'd arrived. It didn't appear as if the fading yellow orb had any intention of lowering itself nearer to the underlying swath of milk-white clouds. No sound or feel of wind, no natural smells. Behind her, soft, slanted shadows fell across the village and curving, rock pathways like a still life painting of the Middle Ages.

Only the statue's presence in the village center felt out of the ordinary. But even from that emanated an overall pervading sense of desertion.

Unable to discern any relevance to the statue, Sam turned her back on it and keyed her radio. Click. Click. Static. "Stay ..ear… fire hydra… Carter… hear… saying?"

*********

Great Lakes military training compound - an office phone rings.

"Yes, operator, this is Captain Terry Ballard. I accept the charges for a collect call from County Down, Ireland."

"Hello, Terrance? This is Father Stuart Haggardy, an old friend of your dad's. I didn't catch you at bad time, did I?"

"No, Father Haggardy. I'm grading fitness reports and could use a break. Is everything all right? Have you seen him?"

*********

TBC


	8. 7 Offerings and Masses

**AN: **Liam's son joins in the hunt and an overly suspicious Carter converses with a statue. References to _Demons _and _Crystal Skull_.

************

**Part 2 - NEARBY TO FARAWAY PLACES**

**Chapter 2 - Offerings and Masses**

************

"Oh, no, son. I had prayed he would return to your family in the states when he left us. I'm very sorry, but perhaps you could help me?"

"Of course, Father. What is it you need?"

"Terrance, do you remember what happened to the green rock in a plastic container you took from your grandfather's mantle - the one he told you was a paperweight?"

The young man groaned. "How can I forget? Dad was livid when he came back from the Cairo dig and I'd already packed it up with the other stuff and given it to a Chicago museum. Grandpa Nick never _mentioned_ a will to me!"

"Understandable. Terrance, this is very important, son. Do you know if that rock was one of the artifacts stolen in the museum robbery?"

"No, but they _wanted_ it."

"What do you mean?"

"The curator's report says they left behind the empty container after they _lost_ the stone. What happened to it was _no _mystery to my father. Nor you, any longer."

"Yes, imagine my surprise, Terrance, that morning I spilled candle wax on the altar and a section of it began to glow Leprechaun green! Until that moment, I'd truly thought your father was in need of a holiday, that next he'd be seeing wee people at his hillside digs carrying off his rocks!"

"When he was there, Father, he didn't bring any companions?"

"No. And I fear to say, Terrance, that a member in my modest congregation recently tells me of two men from Colorado here, although your father swore to keep it a secret."

"Doesn't sound good. Wait, Father Haggardy, you said Colorado? Colorado Springs was the last place my grandfather was the day he vanished! Yes, he called from there to wish me Happy Birthday, and said he'd made peace with my cousin whom I haven't seen since I was about five."

"Then I believe you _are_ the right man for this, Terrance. I need to find out who or what these men are for the sake of your father. They called themselves Thomas and Luke, claiming to be artifact researchers hired by the same Chicago museum. I never met them myself."

"Thank you for calling, Father Haggardy, these stones have been _nothing _but trouble in our family. I'd like to see all of them go back to where they're from! I'm sure I can get a few weeks leave from Great Lakes. And I know Cindy and the kids would really love to visit her mother in Milwaukee."

"Very good, son! I await to hear of your success! Goodbye and God Bless!"

"Goodbye, Father Haggardy. Take care, and don't worry, I _will_ definitely find out what interest these men have in the stones."

*********

Click. Click. Static. "Colonel, I can't read you, sir! Fire _what_?"

"_These animals were sacrificed as religious burnt offerings long before the Dark Ages worshipped them in ritualistic pagan black masses." _

Sam hesitated, slowly, reluctantly turning to regard the innocuous statue. "I suppose _you're_ somehow blocking our transmissions?" The animal's stone-carved haunches defied her to look more closely. Her eyes traveled up the back of the shaggy head to the straight, pointed U-shaped horns, about a foot and a half long. "And what exactly are you, anyway? Sacred goat, pagan ram or a testimony to a good harvest in the field?" She warily circled the aged platform, but the creature revealed nothing until she saw its feet. Instead of cloven, they'd been sculpted in the smooth half-moon shape more reminiscent of a colt.

"Whoa!" Startled, Sam instinctively jumped back. "Okay, that's too _odd. _Go-orse? Co-ram? Do you even _have _normal ancestors where I'm from?"

Forgetting her absurd conversation, Carter stepped further away from the statue and paused, uncertain of where to look next. Each hut surrounding the edge of the small square was identical to the one where she'd left Daniel. Uncovered entrances with no windows, thatched roofs losing their straw.

All except for a single dwelling.

Tucked further back from the other huts, this one stood slightly higher and a little wider to mark it as a town hall in most villages. And in others, it might be considered as the home of the village leader. Either way, it _was_ different.

From the doorway, however, this dwelling appeared as barren as the last one - _if_ you discounted the nearly manhole-sized disk embedded in the solid dirt floor. Deep green at its center, it's five concentric rings shown lighter hues until it's rim was almost silver.

Without Daniel there to insist upon deciphering tiny symbols carved into the rings, Sam unslung her P90, entertaining vague images of low-lit maze-like tunnels circling below. The trick always was to find the release. She poked around the rim with the weapon's barrel several times, but to no avail.

"Fine," Carter sighed in defeat, falling back onto her haunches, the P90 balancing loosely across her left knee. "Then _how_ does anyone open a pseudo manhole cover with no crowbar or wrench around?"

Okay, there _was_ Daniel's way by touching symbols in random combinations.

On her fourth try, Carter heard a distinctive whirring click, then stood in awed silence as the disk rose out of the floor transforming into a polished silver-gray column. As it made its slow ascent, it threw off pulsating lights in bizarrely whirling streams of blue, green and purple bathing the small hut in a '70s disco ball effect gone blindingly awry.

Sam wanted to shield her eyes, but she could only stare in awed wonder at the object until it pulled to a whining halt about an inch above her shoulders. Instantly, the light patterns blended, coalescing into blurred images like a camera bringing itself into focus. It didn't _look _dangerous, but all the same, she still took a few steps backward closer to the open entryway.

*********

TBC

*********

**AN: **Wow, each time the courtyard or statue is seen, I can hear the eerie Celtic chorus from _Demons_, although I haven't seen that episode in _years_!


End file.
